[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

Wed Oct 31 08:25:44 CDT 2018

October 31

BAHRAIN:

Bahraini Court Upholds Death Sentence for 2 in 2015 Case of Police Bombing

Bahrain Court of Appeals upheld on Monday the death sentence of 2 Bahraini 
nationals convicted of killing 2 policemen and injuring 6 others in a bus 
bombing on Sitra Island in July 2015.

The appeals court also upheld all sentences in life imprisonment, between 6 
months and 10 years of 20 other convicts in the case, revoked the Bahraini 
nationality of 9 of them, and obliged 7 of them to pay a fine of 6,600 Bahraini 
dinars.

The case dates back to July 28, 2015 when terrorists bombed a police bus in 
Sitra which claimed the life of 2 policemen and injured 6 others.

The High Court of Appeals ruled in the case of establishment, formation, 
joining, financing and running of a terrorist group to break the law, according 
Terror Crime Prosecution Chief Ahmed al-Hammadi.

The terrorist group had killed 2 policemen and attempted to murder several 
others, possessed, handled and used explosive devices, weapons and incendiary 
devices, damaged properties, assisted and concealed fugitive terrorists to 
escape justice without reporting to the authorities. They also entered and 
exited Bahrain unlawfully.

In March 2017, the High Criminal Court sentenced 2 defendants to death, 5 
defendants to a life in jail, 6 defendants to 10 years each, 1 defendant to 5 
years in jail, 2 defendants to 3 years each and 2 defendants to 2 years each, 
and 4 defendants to 6 months incarceration.

The court acquitted 4 of the defendants.

(source: aawsat.com)

SAUDI ARABIA:

Halt death sentences on children, UN rights expert urge Saudi authorities

Saudi Arabia has been urged by United Nations human rights experts to 
immediately halt the execution of 6 people sentenced to death for crimes 
allegedly committed when they were under the age of 18.

The experts warned that carrying out the sentences could amount to "arbitrary 
executions."

The 6 who face imminent execution, were sentenced for charges that the experts 
said criminalize fundamental human rights, including the freedom of assembly 
and expression.

The 6 individuals, all male, - Ali al-Nimr; Dawood al-Marhoon; Abdullah 
al-Zaher; Mujtaba al-Sweikat; Salman Qureish; and Abdulkarim al-Hawaj - were 
allegedly tortured and ill-treated, forced to confess, denied adequate legal 
assistance during trial and never had access to an effective complaint 
mechanism, the experts said.

"As a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Saudi Arabia is 
under an obligation to treat everyone under the age of 18 as a child," the 
group said in a news release issued by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, on 
Monday.

"Children should never be subject to the death penalty, this practice violates 
an existing norm of customary international law and renders the punishment 
tantamount to torture [...] In these circumstances, the execution of these 6 
individuals would constitute arbitrary executions," they stressed.

"Saudi Arabia must ensure that children who have not benefited from a fair 
trial be immediately released and that those among them who were sentenced to 
death have their sentence commuted in line with international juvenile justice 
standards and the Committee of the Rights of the Child's recommendations in 
2016," the experts said.

The experts acknowledged the recent review initiated by Saudi Arabia of 
juvenile law but expressed "regret" that the amendments introduced in the 
legislation "continue to fail to adequately protect children."

The law still allows for the death penalty to be imposed on child offenders 
aged between 15 and 18, said the release.

"Saudi Arabia should promptly amend its legislation with a view to 
unambiguously prohibiting the imposition of the death sentence on children," 
urged the UN rights experts.

The experts voicing their concern include Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur 
on extrajudicial executions; Renate Winter, Chair of the Committee on the 
Rights of the Child; Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture; David Kaye, 
Special Rapporteur on protection of the rights of expression; and Clément 
Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly.

The experts said they are in contact with the Government regarding the case.

UN Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the 
Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific 
human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary, and the 
experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

(source: un.org)

*****************

Indonesia protests Saudi Arabia execution of migrant worker

The government has aired its "deep concerns" about the execution of Indonesian 
migrant worker Tuti Tursilawati, which was carried out on Monday without the 
prior knowledge of her family or Indonesian officials.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi immediately called her Saudi counterpart Adel 
bin Ahmed Al Jubeir to express her disapproval on the execution, of which she 
was notified after it took place on Monday.

"Tuti's execution was carried out without [prior notification]. I also summoned 
the Saudi ambassador [Usamah Muhammad Al Syuaiby] in Jakarta to meet me in 
Bali," she told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Our Ocean 
Conference in Bali, according to a distributed recording of her interview.

Separately in Jakarta, the ministry's director for overseas citizen protection, 
Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said Tuti's family had accepted her passing, after it was 
revealed that he had personally delivered the news of her execution in a visit 
to her hometown in Majalengka, West Java.

Iqbal said they were surprised because almost 2 weeks ago on Oct. 19, Tuti was 
allowed to talk to her mother through a video call to say she was healthy and 
unworried about her execution.

Tuti was charged with the premeditated murder of her employer's father, who she 
beat to death with a stick. According to Saudi criminal law, the act is 
punishable by had ghillah (absolute death).

In contrast to previous reports, Tuti did not commit the murder in self-defense 
against attempted rape. "It is true that Tuti had been harassed, but not when 
she committed the murder," Iqbal said.

After the incident, Tuti ran away from her employer but was raped by 9 Saudi 
men before the police took her into custody. All of her rapists were processed 
separately.

Observors say Indonesia is unable to criticize other countries that uphold 
capital punishment without appearing hypocritical. Under President Joko 
"Jokowi" Widodo, Indonesia has executed 18 death row inmates convicted of 
drug-related offenses, including foreigners, in 3 batches since 2015.

Instead, Jakarta complained about the lack of consular notification in cases 
that fall under Saudi authority.

International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana from the University of Indonesia 
said Riyadh had "violated the norms of international relations" by not 
informing Indonesia about the execution.

In an attempt to prevent such disputes from arising, Indonesia pursued last 
week a mandatory consular notification agreement with Saudi Arabia, which Iqbal 
said had been "received positively" by the Saudi delegation.

The Saudi Embassy in Jakarta was unable to provide immediate comment.

Meanwhile, the Migrant CARE advocacy group has called on the Manpower Ministry 
to scrap a recent agreement with its Saudi counterpart to send Indonesian 
migrant workers to the kingdom.

The One Channel System was a scheme agreed upon by the 2 countries' manpower 
ministers in mid-October, which allows for the placement of a limited number of 
migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

However, Migrant CARE founder Anis Hidayah said the government was violating 
the 2017 law on the protection of migrant workers by rushing into a deal that 
bypasses a 2015 ban on sending migrant domestic workers to the Middle East. 
"The law prohibits private organizations from recruiting migrant workers but 
this project allows it."

(source: The Jakarta Post)

*******************

Indonesia protests to Saudi over execution of maid convicted of murder

Indonesia has protested to Saudi Arabia over the execution of an Indonesian 
maid, convicted of murdering her employer who a workers' rights group said was 
trying to rape her at the time.

President Joko Widodo said he called Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Adel 
al-Jubeir, to lodge a protest and demand to know why Indonesia had not been 
informed about the execution of the woman, Tuti Tursilawati.

"We have called Saudi Arabia's foreign minister and conveyed our protest," 
Widodo was quoted as saying by the office of his cabinet secretary.

Tursilawati, who was working in the city of Ta'if, was found guilty of killing 
her employer in June 2011.

Indonesian advocacy group Migrant Care said in September that the mother of one 
had been defending herself from being raped.

The office of the cabinet secretary cited the Migrant Care assertion.

The Saudi ambassador to Indonesia had been summoned to discuss the matter, the 
president said.

The Saudi embassy in Jakarta did not answer calls seeking comment.

"The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has ignored principles of human rights, including 
a right for everyone to live," said Abidin Fikri, a member of Indonesia's 
parliament.

Indonesia, which is the world's biggest Muslim-majority country and generally 
enjoys good ties with Saudi Arabia, also has the death penalty for certain 
crimes.

Indonesia has asked Saudi Arabia several times to improve protection of its 
workers there, including this month when Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno 
Marsudi met al-Jubeir in Jakarta.

(source: Reuters)

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Man gets death penalty for raping, killing man in Dubai desert----The 
21-year-old accomplice was sentenced to 10 years in jail to be followed by 
deportation.

A man, who lured a compatriot, along with his friend, to a desert location 
where he raped him and then killed and buried him, was given the death penalty 
in absentia by the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.

Prosecutors accused the two Pakistanis - a 33-year-old runaway and an 
ironsmith, 21 - of premeditated murder, sexual assault of a male and theft at 
night.

The duo took the victim, in his thirties, near the site of a contracting firm 
and its labour accommodation off Jebel Ali.

The 21-year-old accomplice was sentenced to 10 years in jail to be followed by 
deportation.

He pleaded not guilty before the court, claiming he was only at the crime 
scene.

Preliminary investigation showed that the runaway defendant was angry because - 
as his accomplice claimed to public prosecution investigators - he believed the 
victim had circulated pictures of his female relatives in Pakistan.

The pair befriended the victim and invited him to have some cold drinks they 
purchased from a supermarket on March 4.

The documents, presented to the court earlier, showed the runaway took the 
victim by surprise when he tightened a rope around his neck. Together with his 
accomplice, they pulled the rope from both sides tightly around the victim's 
neck. They then stuffed his mouth with sand. The runaway had sodomised the 
victim prior to finishing him off.

Even though the victim denied having been the one who circulated the pictures 
and begged them it was another man, they went on with their plan. They fled the 
scene after stealing his mobile phone and his wallet.

The decomposed body was found buried in sand dunes. Only its toes and head hair 
were protruding and were obviously devoured by animals.

A police lieutenant said they were alerted about the discovery of a body in a 
remote desert location at 10:30am on March 16. "Our first speculation was that 
the crime motive could be a fight among bootleggers as it is in an area 
thronged with labourers. However, we ruled out that possibility after 
questioning the workers on the site."

The police learned that the fugitive had met the victim shortly before his 
death. They traced him through their database and found he had fled the UAE 
shortly after the crime. They apprehended the person who was with him on the 
incident day.

The man admitted to investigators he killed the victim, together with the main 
accused, and then covered the body with stones and dust.

********************

Man gets death penalty for stabbing Pakistani guard with knife in UAE

The man would follow the woman and intimidate her.

A construction worker, who stabbed a security guard to death using a kitchen 
knife, has lost his appeal against the death sentence.

According to court records, the worker committed the murder after the guard 
stopped him from sexually harassing a female employee at their workplace.

The Abu Dhabi Appeal Court upheld an earlier ruling by a lower court, which 
found the Asian worker guilty of murder.

Police officers said the woman had approached the security guard after the 
worker stalked her.

"The guard asked the worker to stop following the woman and not to intimidate 
her," prosecutors told the court at a previous hearing.

"The guard also temporarily took away the worker's access card so that he 
couldn't enter the company premises. But he later returned it to him."

Prosecutors said the convict pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed the guard 
to death.

The worker had denied the charges throughout his trial.

The victim's family had refused to take blood money from the killer and 
requested the court to give him the death penalty.

(source for both: Khaleej Times)

IRAN----execution

Prisoner Hanged at Bandar Abbas Prison

A prisoner was executed on a murder charge at Bandar Abbas Central Prison last 
Sunday.

According to the IHR sources, Nouri Yarkhorshidi, 35, was executed on October 
28, 2018. He was sentenced to death for killing a person who stole his father's 
sheep 4 years ago.

Nouri Yarkhorshidi was from Bardeghun, a village in Iranian county of Bandar 
Lengeh. He was held in Bandar Lengeh Prison and was transferred to Bandar Abbas 
Prison for carrying out the execution.

The Iranian media outlets have not published news related to the aforementioned 
execution so far.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. There 
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in 
issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

*******************

In Iran, 4 conservation scientists face espionage charges that carry the death 
penalty

Prosecutors in Iran have charged 4 conservationists with "sowing corruption on 
Earth" - a crime punishable by death.

The environmentalists, who work with the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation 
in Tehran, were arrested in January on suspicion of espionage. Iran's 
Revolutionary Guards accused them of using camera traps - intended for 
monitoring rare Asiatic cheetahs and other wildlife - to eavesdrop on the 
nation's ballistic missile program. Many observers view the detainees as pawns 
in a power struggle between the hardline Revolutionary Guards and Iranian 
President Hassan Rouhani's relatively moderate administration, which in a 
review last spring determined that the spying accusation is baseless. But 
Rouhani's allies have been powerless to secure the conservationists' release.

"The scientific community can do a lot by challenging the narrative that is 
being sold by [the Revolutionary Guards]," says Kaveh Madani, a water 
management expert at Imperial College London who served as Iran's deputy vice 
president for the environment for several months before leaving the country 
last April after coming under escalating pressure from hardliners. "People 
trust the scientific community, and once they come with their counternarrative, 
the hardliners cannot sell their BS easily."

Required fields are indicated by an asterisk (*)

Human rights organizations learned last week that the charges against the 4 - 
believed to be Taher Ghadirian, Houman Jowkar, Morad Tahbaz, and Niloufar 
Bayani - have been upgraded to a capital offense. "This is a very bizarre 
charge to bring against environmental activists," and "totally unprecedented," 
says Tara Sepehri Far, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in New York City.

2 of the accused serve on International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 
panels that weigh evidence of the status of wildlife populations and recommend 
whether to add or remove species from IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species. 
Ghadirian and Jowkar are members of the cat specialist group, and Ghadirian is 
also on the bear specialist group. "IUCN is deeply alarmed by the charges," 
says IUCN Species Survival Commission Chair Jon Paul Rodríguez, a conservation 
biologist at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research in Caracas. 
Camera traps are "indispensable" for tracking the status and biology of 
threatened species, he says. "As far as I am aware, practically the only 
information we have on the Asiatic cheetah comes from camera traps."

Iranian security officers have detained four other environmentalists on similar 
accusations; one, Kavous Seyed-Emami, co-founder of the Persian Wildlife 
Heritage Foundation, died in mysterious circumstances in Tehran's Evin Prison 
in February. Authorities claim he committed suicide. No trial date has been set 
for the remaining 8 detainees.

(source: sciencemag.org)

PAKISTAN:

Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi has death penalty conviction overturned

Pakistan's Supreme Court has acquitted a Christian woman who has been on death 
row for almost 8 years on blasphemy charges.

Asia Bibi, a mother of 5 from Punjab province, was convicted of blasphemy in 
2010 and sentenced to hang after she was accused of defiling the name of the 
Prophet Muhammed during an argument the year before with Muslim colleagues.

The workers had refused to drink from a bucket of water Asia Bibi had touched 
because she was not Muslim. At the time, Asia Bibi said the case was a matter 
of women who didn't like her "taking revenge."

She won her appeal against the conviction and subsequent death sentence on 
Wednesday.

The court quoted Shakespeare's "King Lear" in its ruling, saying Asia Bibi 
appeared to have been "more sinned against than sinning."

"Even if there was some grain of truth in the allegations leveled in this case 
against the appellant still the glaring contradictions in the evidence of the 
prosecution highlighted above clearly show that the truth in this case had been 
mixed with a lot which was untrue," the ruling said.

David Curry, CEO of Open Doors USA, an organization that lobbies on behalf of 
Christian minorities, said in a statement that "we are breathing a sigh of 
relief today."

"These charges stemmed from her Christian identity as well as false accusations 
against her," he said. "We are hopeful that Pakistan will now take additional 
steps to offer religious freedom and basic human rights throughout the 
country."

Islamist movement Tehreek-e Labbaik had previously vowed to take to the streets 
if Asia Bibi was released, and protests broke out in Islamabad and Lahore soon 
after the ruling was announced.

Within hours, the protests were large enough that government officials in the 
cities were urging people to stay inside and avoid adding to the chaos.

Demonstrators blocked a motorway in Lahore and a road linking Islamabad and 
Rawalpindi has been closed off.

In response, police officials invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure 
Code, which prevents the gathering of more than 4 people.

Supporters of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline religious political 
party chant slogans during a protest against the court decision to overturn the 
conviction of Christian woman Asia Bibi in Lahore on October 31, 2018.

Controversial law

Under the Pakistan penal code, the offense of blasphemy is punishable by death 
or life imprisonment. Widely criticized by international human rights groups, 
the law has been used disproportionately against minority religious groups in 
the country and to go after journalists critical of the Pakistani religious 
establishment.

Her case has attracted widespread outrage and support from Christians 
worldwide, and condemnation from conservative Islamist groups in Pakistan, who 
have demanded the death penalty be carried out and threatened widespread 
protests in the event of her being freed.

The case has been extremely divisive within Pakistani society, splitting 
liberals and conservatives and leaving even many supporters afraid to speak out 
on Asia Bibi's behalf.

In 2011, senior politician Salman Taseer was shot dead by his own bodyguard for 
voicing support for Asia Bibi and condemning the country's stringent blasphemy 
laws. His killer, Mumtaz Qadri, immediately surrendered to police and was later 
executed, becoming a martyr for many hardline Islamists.

At his funeral in 2016, thousands converged on the northern city of Rawalpindi 
as the Pakistani media was blacked out to prevent riots. Leaders of prominent 
Islamist political parties attended the funeral as supporters of Qadri carried 
signs in celebration of his "bravery."

Qadri's grave, in the capital city of Islamabad, has since become a shrine for 
those supporting Asia Bibi's death sentence.

Polarizing case

Amnesty International researcher Rabia Mehmood said that one of the reasons the 
Asia Bibi case has become so polarizing and controversial is the Pakistani 
government's failure to take "effective measures to curb the campaign of hate 
and violence incited by certain groups in the country following her conviction, 
in fact the state has shown immense tolerance for the narratives of hate."

She previously highlighted a tweet by a media organization linked to Tehreek-e 
Labbaik, which last year led to violent anti-blasphemy protests, warning the 
court to "think carefully before making any decision."

In May this year, Pakistan's Interior Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, was shot and 
wounded in his shoulder in an incident police sources linked to the 2017 
demonstrations.

"We can only hope that (the Asia Bibi case) becomes a watershed moment when it 
comes to blasphemy laws in Pakistan," Mehmood said.

A verdict in Asia Bibi's favor, sends "out a message of hope and will be a step 
in addressing human rights abuses, religiously motivated discrimination and 
violence targeted at religious minorities and even Muslims who are accused of 
committing blasphemy."

CNN understands that at least 2 Western countries have offered Asia Bibi asylum 
once she has been released. Such a move will likely be greeted by mass protests 
by Islamist groups, which could turn violent.

It will also prove a key test for new Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who 
courted the country's religious right during his successful campaign and has 
voiced support for blasphemy laws.

Khan should "take a stance against the intimidation of Tehreek-e-Labbaik, whose 
leaders have demanded that Khan fulfill his promises to make Pakistan an 
'Islamic state'," Pakistani journalist Rafia Zakaria wrote for CNN last month.

"Instead of snubbing the international community, one that Islamists see as 
impinging on Pakistan's move toward a full theocracy, Khan could emphasize the 
need to embrace it and to work with it. In other words, Khan could choose to 
stand with the innocent woman instead of the rabid and bloodthirsty 
extremists."

Religious battle

Outside of Pakistan, Asia Bibi's case has become a rallying call for many 
Christians, particularly Catholics.

Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) led prayers for Asia Bibi's 
release last week in the UK, at a ceremony attended by her husband Ashiq Masih 
and daughter, Eisham Ashiq.

"We have prayed 10 years now for our sister, Asia, and I am confident that our 
prayers will be heard, and the judgment will go in favor of Asia, her family 
and the entire Pakistani Christian community," Father Emmanuel Yousaf said in a 
statement from the group.

The family met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in February, during which the 
Catholic leader reportedly described Asia Bibi as a "martyr," according to ACN 
President Alessandro Mondeduro.

Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict, previously called for Asia Bibi's release.

In her 2012 book "Get Me Out of Here," Asia Bibi included a letter to her 
family urging them not to "lose courage or faith in Jesus Christ."

(source: CNN)

**************

Aasia Bibi verdict is a landmark victory for religious tolerance

Responding to the Pakistan Supreme Court's decision to acquit Aasia Bibi, also 
known as Aasia Noreen, of blasphemy charges after she was sentenced to death by 
a trial court in 2010, Amnesty International's Deputy South Asia Director, Omar 
Waraich, said:

"This is a landmark verdict and an important victory for religious tolerance in 
Pakistan. For nearly 8 years, Aasia Bibi, a poor Christian farmhand and mother 
of 5, had her life languish in limbo. On the basis of no credible evidence, she 
was sentenced to death in 2010. The people who spoke up for her were threatened 
and even killed.

"This was a case that was used to rouse angry and violent mobs, to justify the 
assassinations of 2 senior officials in 2011, and to intimidate the Pakistani 
state into submission. Mercifully, justice has prevailed. A clear message must 
now go out that the blasphemy laws will no longer be used to persecute 
Pakistan's long-suffering religious minorities."

Background

Aasia Bibi is a poor Christian farmhand and mother of 5 from a Punjabi village 
near Nankana Sahib.

In November 2010, a trial court sentenced Aasia Bibi to death for blasphemy 
charges brought against her the year before. Later that month, Salmaan Taseer, 
the then Governor of Punjab, visited her in jail, asked her to fill out a mercy 
petition addressed to the President of Pakistan, and campaigned for her 
release.

Pakistan's blasphemy laws are overbroad, vague and coercive. They have been 
used to target religious minorities, pursue personal vendettas, and carry out 
vigilante violence. On the basis of little or no evidence, the accused will 
struggle to establish their innocence while angry and violent mobs seek to 
intimidate the police, witnesses, prosecutors, lawyers and judges.

In January 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, was assassinated by 
his own bodyguard, who shot him 27 times. In March 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti, the 
only Christian cabinet minister at the time, was assassinated outside his 
mother's home in Islamabad.

In 2015, the Pakistan Supreme Court accepted Aasia Bibi's appeal against her 
death sentence.

(source: Amnesty International)

****************

Death penalty awarded in 'rare of the rarest cases,' law minister tells EU 
committee

Federal Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem told a visiting EU delegation that the 
death penalty was never abolished in Pakistan, adding there was a moratorium on 
executions of death penalty.

"Incidents like APS massacre, Zainab case and similar cases of child abuse by 
dangerous paedophiles resulted in huge public uproar. He said death penalty was 
awarded in 'rare of the rarest cases,'" Farogh told a 7-member delegation of 
European Parliament Committee for relations with South Asia under the 
leadership of Ms. Jean Lambert on Tuesday.

Ms. Lambert thanked the Law Minister for his time and expressed her gratitude 
for hospitality extended by the Pakistani side. She informed the Minister that 
the delegation comprised of representatives of 3 different political groups and 
was in charge of relations with 6 countries.

She further informed that their job was to engage with governments as well as 
with the civil societies of these countries.

The minister told the European Parliament delegation that steps were being 
taken to ensure witness protection and judicial protection for effective 
dispensation of justice.

On the issue of death penalty, the Law Minister said that the death penalty was 
never abolished in Pakistan; however there was a moratorium on executions of 
death penalty.

He said incidents like APS massacre, Zainab case and similar cases of child 
abuse by dangerous paedophiles resulted in huge public uproar. He said death 
penalty was awarded in "rare of the rarest cases".

The law minister stated that in drug offences pertaining to women who are only 
carriers, aspects of leniency are being debated.

During the meeting the issue of extending support to International NGOs was 
also raised by the delegation members to which the Law Minister responded, the 
Government of Pakistan will support all the genuine NGOs that are working in 
Pakistan but there are certain NGOs that are just wasting money of the West and 
are not helping in any cause and therefore are not supported.

Naseem appraised the delegation about steps the new Government is taking to 
overhaul the legal system, to help the people of Pakistan. He said human rights 
are on our agenda and priority and support from the European Union for a 
prosperous Pakistan is essential to ensure these rights.

Farogh Naseem impressed upon the European Union Delegation that the EU should 
support Pakistan to eradicate corruption and its programmes like GSP plus may 
be fully supportive of Pakistan in keeping with its culture, religion and 
settings, because if the Pakistani society's indicators of education and 
economic prosperity improve, so will its Human Rights record.

The law minister said that Human Rights compliance is dependent on tolerant 
regulation at the international level; if the EU is lenient, this will result 
in Pakistan improving its economy which will alleviate or reduce poverty, and 
this in turn will improve education, knowledge-base and will result in a better 
Human Rights compliance.

Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Ms. Maleeka Bukhari and Consultant 
of Law Ministry Raja Naeem were also present during the meeting.

********************

Benazir murder case: LHC judge recuses himself from hearing appeals

Justice Shahid Mehmood Abbasi of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench 
on Monday recused himself from hearing appeals of Pakistan People's Party 
Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

The PPP leader had filed 3 appeals with the LHC against the verdict of an 
anti-terrorist court, which was announced on August 31. The petitioner's 
counsel Latif Khosa in the first appeal asked the court to announce a 
punishment for Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf in accordance with the criminal 
code.

In 2nd appeal, the court has been requested to change the sentence given to the 
police officers involved in the case to death penalty as according to law, the 
punishment for murder is the death sentence. The 3rd appeal appealed to the 
court to award death sentence to 5 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan suspects who had 
been acquitted by the ATC.

Earlier, the bench, comprising Justice Tariq Abassi and Justice Habibullah Amir 
accepted the petition for regular hearing on September 21, 2017 and issued 
notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), ATC and other respondents.

(source for both: thenews.com.pk)

SOUTH KOREA:

S Korean sisters seek father’s execution

Nearly 150,000 South Koreans have backed a demand by 3 sisters to have their 
father executed for the brutal killing of their mother, in a case highlighting 
the country's lax punishment of domestic violence.

The trio’s mother was stabbed to death by her ex-husband in the car park of her 
apartment complex last week after years of physical abuse. "Our father is a 
heinous criminal who must forever be isolated from society," the daughters said 
in a petition filed on the website of the presidential Blue House. "We are 
petitioning for him to be sentenced to death to prevent further victims."

It had received more than 147,000 signatures by Monday afternoon. South Korea 
retains the death penalty in law, but last carried out an execution in 1997 and 
is regarded as abolitionist in practice.

The murder has shone a spotlight on South Korea's poor handling of domestic 
abuse cases, where the perpetrators are often assigned to counselling or given 
restraining orders. According to a report by the United Nations Committee on 
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, nearly half of 16,868 cases of 
domestic violence reported to police in 2015 did not result in any criminal 
punishment.

Rights groups say that the current law focuses more on maintaining a family 
structure rather than punishment of the abuser, perpetuating the problem. "A 
perpetrator is a subject for punishment, not a subject for counselling," said 
activist Kim Myung-jin at a rally in downtown Seoul on Monday. "Counselling 
cannot be punishment."

Last week's assailant -- identified only by his surname, Kim -- was arrested 
and reports said he had admitted the killing during police questioning, quoting 
his lawyer telling reporters that Kim was "regretful" for his actions.

His daughters said their mother had endured more than 20 years of physical 
abuse and death threats from their father. "Even after their divorce, our 
father came to our home with a knife," 1 of the 3 told the Chosun Ilbo 
newspaper. "Whenever that happened, we had to move."

Their mother was always on the run from their father, hiding at women's 
shelters and in the countryside for months but every time she would be 
discovered and beaten, her daughters said.

"At one time, my father followed my sister and found out where we were living," 
they said. "He brought a knife, some tape and ropes and threatened to kill us." 
"We always lived in fear," they said. "We moved 6 times in the last 4 years."

(source: thenews.com.pk)